In today's world, people often are required to prove their identity to other people, such as strangers or security personnel, or to access control devices. The use of identification documents and other credentials is pervasive. Credentials are most commonly used to prove identity, to verify age, to access an asset (e.g., secure area, financial account, computing resource, etc.), to evidence driving privileges, to cash a check, and so on. Airplane passengers are required to show a credential during check in, and sometimes at security screening and prior to boarding a flight. We also live in an ever-evolving cashless society where credentials are used to make payments, access an automated teller machine (ATM), debit an account, or make a payment, etc. Many industries require that their employees carry photo identification credentials on the job and to access various locations on a job site. If verification is performed by a person, the inquiring person is left to assume that the proffered identification is authentic (i.e., it was produced by a reputable or trusted third-party and it properly identifies the holder).
Methods and devices for identifying people have matured over the years and have become more complex, particularly depending upon the purpose or context in which the identification is needed. Higher stake situations compel higher levels of security. As a result, identification features and methods have evolved to meet demand and in response to counterfeiting and other efforts to circumvent existing forms of identification. Simple photo identification badges are one form of early identification but are still in use today. The addition of graphics and printing provided further ways to lend authentication to an ID. Further identifying or verification data was added to IDs in the form of magnetic stripes or bar codes. Still further levels of security and additional data was added with embedded microchips, and was enhanced as the processing power and capacity of such chips increased simultaneous with the decrease in physical size of such chips.
More recently, measures to combat counterfeiting have evolved to include holograms and biometric data and scanners. However, counterfeiting operations have also evolved in their complexity to keep up with the countermeasures. Accordingly, a continuing need exists to develop and implement effective countermeasures (e.g., security features) for identification documents. Moreover, a need exists to develop effective countermeasures that are relatively cost effective but nonetheless incorporate an inherent level of trust.
U.S. published patent application 2005/0087606, the entirety or which is incorporated herein by reference, is directed to a card utilizing the fluorescence of ultraviolet ink as a security or authentication feature. The card has indicia or encoding that is non-visible to the unaided human eye. The non-visible indicia can be made with ultraviolet or infrared ink that is preferably printed on the card with an ink jet printer. The indicia may be provided on one of the major card surface or along the perimeter edge of the card, or may extend through the entirety of the card between the major surfaces. The indicia can provide a basis for determining the authenticity of the card. The indicia can comprise numbers, letters, symbols or other marks. When the indicium extends through the card, the indicium is visible when viewed from both sides of the card. If the indicium does not extend through the card, nothing is visible from the opposite side of the card. Moreover, because the process permits the indicium to be added following manufacture of the card, this type of added security feature may be more easily counterfeited.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,654,581, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a double ultraviolet security feature for use with a security document. The security document utilizes a transparent ultraviolet blocking agent positioned within the region of a transparent window formed in the document. A pattern made with ultraviolet ink and positioned within the area of the transparent window on one side of the ultraviolet blocking agent will be visible only from that one side of the document when illuminated on that side of the document, and will not be viewable from the other side of the document. Similarly, a pattern made with ultraviolet ink and positioned within the area of the transparent window on the opposite side of the ultraviolet blocking agent will only be viewable from the opposite side of the blocking agent when illuminated on that same side of the document. An ultraviolet light source must be used on each side of the security document to illuminate both patterns simultaneously. Because of the use of the ultraviolet blocking agent, when an ultraviolet light source illuminates one side of the security document, not only is no pattern viewable of the opposite side, no fluorescence of any kind is viewable from the opposite side.
Although the foregoing examples of security or authentication features are generally sufficient as designed, security and authentication features taking advantage of the fluorescence of ultraviolet fluorescent inks or infrared inks may be achieved in other ways utilizing other techniques disclosed herein that provide additional tools for providing enhanced security and authentication while thwarting counterfeiting efforts.